Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A Dining Room with Landscape or Modern Art?

In general art has always something to do with emotion and our response is very personal. Either we love a piece of art or not, either we feel attached to it or not. But there are some rules where we can hang certain art in order to look good i.e. complementary and where not.

Here we have a dining room with a clear line, without any draperies, no embellishments, clean, modern, nearly prosaic if there wasn't that awesome view through the windows, revealing a breathtaking landscape even if we don't see very much of it in this photo.

Whoever placed the original art work on the wall did wrong in my opinion - it simply does not fit into this environment. It would have blended well into the dining room of a modern appartment in the middle of a city but to place it into a room that belongs to a house that is apparently located in the mountains, or at least near mountains, commits a break of certain rules.

The harmony of a house depends not only on the interiors alone, the exterior and the environment are part of it. This is often not considered when designing a single room. Imagine a house built like a Spanish villa and then designed inside like a British country cottage. No match. Impossible.Or imagine an old farmer's house and stuffed inside like a Moroccan riad (house). Ridiculous. And the harmony of a room depends on "how the interior design reflects the inhabitants of the home rather than the latest and greatest design trends." Of course we all have our preferences and our dreams of a perfect home. But if we dream of a simple beach cottage but live in a condo on the 12th floor in the middle of a big city, the "beach arrangements" in a condo might look somewhat poor.

I understand that the intent here was probably to lighten up the dark wall and the dark furniture but the choice was not so perfect. Although there might be better solutions than the one I am proposing here it is still the better choice. The painting shows a semi-abstract landscape, the colours are warm and even complement the scarce vegetation that you can see through the windows. A simple, unadorned frame adds warmth and some light and repeats the shimmer of the candles. The original artwork appears like a foreign matter in this room. But judge for yourself...

Below is the original photo:

The painting has been painted on silk and was inspired by another breathtaking landscape - the ones you will find on the Hawaiian Islands where you also can find very arid landscapes in the areas of former volcanic activities...

2 comments:

When you have a room with a spectacular view through the window, you want that to be the feature of the room. In this case, the huge piece of shoe art draws your attention away from the view - bad idea. Your piece of art blends in with the view and complements it. A much better choice :-)

Press and Testimonials

"Each year, the best of show winner is awarded a solo show the year after the latest "Art Inter/National," and now it's Voegtle's turn to shine. And she does through her remarkable paintings on silk that bridge the gap between fine art and craft. Eight are from her "Magic Symbols" series, seven from her "Magic Landscapes" series and three from her "Magic Creatures" series. Also on display are two silk scrolls and two large art quilts, making for a relatively complete exhibition of the artist's many talents..."Kurt Shaw, Art Critic, Pittsburgh Tribune, Feb 15 2007

"...This is a juried exhibition, however, with the best-of-show winner being awarded a solo exhibit that follows the next "Art Inter/National." Which means that next month, visitors to the gallery will find on display the work of German artist Petra Voegtle, last year's best-of-show winner..."
"...Voegtle is represented in this show, too. Also a fiber artist, she shows in two silk paintings from her "Magic Landscape" series how magic exists and surrounds us everywhere. Through the delicate representation of desert and cave, respectively, "Dryland" and "Underworld" give the impression that every space is sacred, fragile and delicate..."Kurt Shaw, Art Critic, Pittsburgh Tribune, Jan 2007

"...The international entries are where the work really shines -- not only with the work of German fiber artist Petra Voegtle, whose three silk paintings won the Best of Show award..."
"...Voegtle's three pieces -- "Mesopotamia", "Maya" and "Celts" -- are painted silk quilts, multi-layered and collaged to incorporate symbols and symbolisms that relate to their titles. They are particularly notable because all three works include the symbol of the "tree of life," even though they depict images and symbols from different eras of human civilization..."
Kurt Shaw, Art Critic, Pittsburgh Tribune, Jan 2006

"...The Whistler House show is the better of the two. Its highlights include Petra Voegtle's "Pele," a single piece of silk which the artist has pleated and gathered into lyrical, concentric arcs, rippling downward..."
Cate McQuaid, Art Critic, Boston Globe, Sep 2004